


it's the pits

by halfwheeze



Series: Starkbucks Bingo 2020 (Round 1) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers do GISHWHES, Crack, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, GISHWHES, Gift Fic, M/M, Meeting, Multi, Office Setting, POV Bucky Barnes, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25633417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halfwheeze/pseuds/halfwheeze
Summary: Pepper looks so totally normal that one would believe that nothing at all was running amiss, and that this was the normal state of affairs for the typical meeting the CEO and board of Stark Industries would attend. And, mostly, that would be correct.Bar the nearly two thousand brightly colored balls littering the floor up to the height of the meeting room table, it looks like any other meeting.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Pepper Potts, James "Bucky" Barnes/Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Series: Starkbucks Bingo 2020 (Round 1) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797514
Comments: 3
Kudos: 52
Collections: StarkBucksBingo2020





	it's the pits

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Menatiera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Menatiera/gifts).



> Thank you @menatiera for asking for this fic! 
> 
> It also falls under my Starkbucks Bingo Card prompt O3: Lending a Hand

Bucky has to congratulate both himself and Madam Potts for not bursting into giggles before the meeting even begins. Bucky has been to a few meetings, and he’s pretty familiar with the running of things and how people act, if not always the topics. Pepper, however, is always remarkably informed about everything that goes on, everything that will be going on, and everything that even  _ might  _ be brought up. In fact, Pepper looks so totally normal that one would believe that nothing at all was running amiss, and that this was the normal state of affairs for the typical meeting the CEO and board of Stark Industries would attend. And, mostly, that would be correct. 

Bar the nearly two thousand brightly colored balls littering the floor up to the height of the meeting room table, it looks like any other meeting. Bright yellow, blue and red are the typical color mix that would have been the cheapest to purchase, but he and Pepper had gone a little crazy. Red and gold are matched by blue and silver, the colors of the three of them all at once, and just gaudy enough that it definitely looks like Tony picked them out. Bucky had been tempted by aquamarine and purple balls, wanting to make it look like Clint was in on it, but Pepper had been so amused by the idea of Tony going down for it that they had nixed that particular idea. 

Tony is completely flabbergasted. The colors reflecting on Tony’s face make him look a particular kind of bright that makes Bucky want to laugh, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t really know how Tony even got over to his seat, given that the balls are up to the shorter man’s hips and he’s not particularly coordinated walking on his best days. The expressions playing on Tony’s face are  _ incredible. Tony fucking Stark _ looks so surprised he can’t form words. 

And better, so are the board members. Elderly socialites and twenty five year old R&D members that keep things new and hip, all of them shocked and completely unable to keep their composure. The younger members look amused, ready for the diversion against what is supposed to be going on in the workplace, but the older generation looks quite a bit put out. Bucky doesn’t know which reaction to love more. 

The board members blame Tony, because Pepper Potts is unblameable and every single board member thinks Bucky is a sweet, baby angel. Well, except the younger members, who know that Bucky is a borderline demon, but they’re not going to express their suspicion when Tony is so, so reactionary to being blamed for things that had nothing to do with him in the first place. Bucky pushes down the very warm feelings he has for both Tony Stark and Miss Pepper Potts, because this is hardly the time to want to be involved with either of them, let alone both of them. 

Tony is not only flabbergasted but  _ offended.  _ His confusion is a level of hilarious that Bucky has to temper down, not wanting to completely lose his everloving shit in the middle of the goddamn Chili’s. 

Pepper gets everyone to continue the meeting as usual. The agenda for the meeting is read out, simple objectives that will take three hundred small lifetimes, and Bucky settles himself in. Very few things actually involve him or his input - he mostly comes to spend more time with Pepper, as she’s so rarely at the Tower and able to spend time with anyone. They need to get her to take a vacation or something, but she’s extremely stubborn on that front. She’ll just need some heavier convincing. 

The meeting happens. It’s mostly boring. Bucky high fives himself beneath the table for not absolutely losing it. A kid that’s practically a teenager gives a presentation on simplifying modular coding in the prosthetic limb lines, something that Bucky himself is heavily involved in, so he pays his utmost attention for that portion. The kid is wicked smart, barely legal, and one of their own. Harley is one of the smartest kids in the world maybe, his only contenders being junior X-Men, the spider kid and Princess Shuri of Wakanda. Harley gives  _ finger guns  _ during his presentation. He’s a good kid. He likes to call Bucky  _ Buckaroo  _ and call Tony  _ Daddy-o  _ and ask Pepper  _ what’s shakin, Pepper shaker?  _ He acknowledges that Pepper’s is not his best work, but he came up with it when he was 13 and refuses to climb off of his hill at this point. 

Not long after Harley is done, sitting down among his elderly compatriots, the meeting ends. The board drags themselves out of the room, releasing even more ball pit balls into the hallway, until the only people left in the room are Bucky himself, Pepper, and Tony. Pepper is flicking through her meeting notes as if she doesn’t have a care in the world, but Bucky catches the hint of a smile cracking across her face and can’t hold it in anymore. He bursts out laughing, the bark of it echoing around the room in a way his laughter hasn’t in nearly a  _ century.  _ He laughs and laughs until his chest hurts and tears stream down his face. Pepper joins him in his raucous presentation, snorting her laughter in a way she only does when she’s fully let go, and Bucky nearly falls out of his chair. 

When they’re both composed, their gazes turn to Tony, who is looking particularly unimpressed. 

“This better be a GISHWHES,” Tony grumbles, but a smile is pulling at his frown and making it obvious that he’s amused, even if he doesn’t want to be. Pepper grins at him and Tony melts like he always does and Bucky grins as well and Tony rolls his eyes, breaking out in his own full smile. “It was a good one, I guess,” he admits, standing up. He looks around at the balls still up to his hips and looks at the other two. 

“Anyone wanna give me a hand?” he asks, eyebrows raised. 

He is markedly not amused when Bucky detaches his left arm, throwing it across the room next to Tony. Pepper chuckles and wades through the mess, picking up Bucky’s arm and grabbing Tony’s hand for good measure. She leads Tony through and toward Bucky, dropping his arm on the table in front of him and stopping next to him. She turns to look up at the ceiling, into one of the very covert cameras. 

“You got that all on film, Madam Friday?” she asks, her jaunty comradery with the AI obvious in her tone. Friday hums the affirmative.

“You got it, Lady Boss - from the fill to the arm throw, we’ve got it all. The pick up crew comes in half an hour. Want me to call the little guy back in here?” she asks, ruthless efficiency mixing with her fondness for her people. When she says the little guy, despite his six foot frame, she means Harley, and Bucky imagines that she wants to film him playing in the ball pit like the child he is. Bucky grins. 

“Yeah, why not? Call him in, Fri.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> And thank you again to Mena!


End file.
